All 67 counties in Florida are facing a Thursday deadline to complete vote recounts in the state's pivotal races for governor and U.S. Senate. In Lauderhill, workers were busy prepping machines and then running ballots through Monday. (Nov. 12)
AP

WASHINGTON – With a Thursday deadline looming, Sen. Bill Nelson's campaign has filed a federal lawsuit to extend the unevenly conducted statewide recount of his re-election race against GOP Gov. Rick Scott, who holds a narrow lead over the three-term Democrat.

The lawsuit seeks to give elections officials in each of Florida's 67 counties adequate time to finish "a legally mandated and accurate recount," according to the senator's campaign. A hearing could be held as early as Wednesday.

"Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, we should all be able to agree that the goal here is to have a complete and accurate count of all lawful ballots and to ensure that count is done accurately," Marc Elias, the lead lawyer for Nelson's recount efforts, told reporters Tuesday evening on a conference call.

Nelson's campaign filed the lawsuit in federal court in Tallahasee only hours after he joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer at a Capitol Hill news conference and demanded Scott withdraw from any oversight role of the state's election recount.

"Governor Scott needs to recuse himself in the recount and do it now," Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a Capitol Hill news conference with Nelson at his side. "He's a contestant in this election and can't possibly be trusted to be a natural and fair arbiter as the votes are tallied."

Schumer is the latest outside voice to weigh in on Florida's turbulent and nationally watched recount of the Nov. 6 election.

President Trump also has injected his opinion, tweeting Monday that the incomplete election results from last Tuesday should stand up because "an honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected."

The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!

Each of the state's counties are conducting a machine recount of votes in three races – governor, U.S. Senate and agriculture commissioner. Initial unofficial tallies of those races found the margin between the top two candidates within half a percentage point which, by law, triggers the recount.

Nelson, who is seeking a fourth term, trails Scott by fewer than 13,000 votes (or .14 percent) out of nearly 8.2 million ballots cast.

If the Senate race remains within .25 percent after Thursday, the law triggers a hand recount of ballots machines could not tally because of how they were filled out. In addition, Friday is the deadline for military and other overseas ballots to be counted.

Nelson's lawsuit is one of several that have been filed by different parties over various aspects of the recount.

Other suits challenge the use of signatures to verify voter eligibility; Scott's role as the overseer of the state election process (the commission that certifies the results comprises the governor and two members of his Cabinet); and a provision prohibiting elections officials from counting a ballot received after Election Day if it was mailed from within the state but not if it came from a Florida citizen living in another country.

Republicans are claiming fraud in the recount process, particularly in Democrat-rich Broward and Palm Beach counties. Democrats, meanwhile, are making accusations of voter disenfranchisement.

Democrats have accused Scott and others of trying to prevent legitimate ballots from being counted. Nelson has sued to allow absentee ballots delayed by the post office to be counted, and his Democratic allies are challenging the process used to verify ballot signatures in federal court.

On Monday, a Broward judge rejected Scott’s request to “impound and secure” voting machines. Instead three Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies who don't answer to Snipes were installed to help with oversight of the ballot counting taking place at a local elections center in Lauderhill.

"This process is about one thing: making sure that every legal ballot is counted and protecting the right of every Floridian to participate in our democracy," Nelson said at the Tuesday news conference with Schumer. "It's become clear that my opponent isn't interested in making sure that every lawful vote is counted."

Nelson called for Scott's "recusal" in a video his campaign released Monday. He said the governor has engaged in an effort to intimidate local elections officials, particularly Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes, who said Tuesday afternoon she might step down amid the sharp criticism during the recount.

Chris Hartline, a spokesman for Scott noted that there would be no recusal by Scott since the recount is being managed by the elections offices in each of Florida's 67 counties.

"If Bill Nelson has an issue with how the recount is being run, he should take it up with them," he wrote in an email.

Hartline also said Nelson should take the honorable route and concede a race he cannot win.

"When the machine recount is complete on Thursday, Nelson will have to decide if he wants to preserve his legacy and go out with dignity or if he wants to be forever remembered as the guy that liberal interest groups used in an effort to win the presidential election two years early," Hartline said.